By James Irwin
Structural changes are coming to the Office of the Provost.
As part of the reorganization of the Provost Office, Interim Provost Forrest Maltzman will consolidate the Office of Online Education and Academic Innovation and the University Teaching and Learning Center under the leadership of University Librarian and Vice Provost Geneva Henry.
“Pulling the libraries, online education and the teaching and learning center together is an excellent opportunity to seamlessly meet the instructional needs of our faculty, and Geneva was the natural choice to lead this effort,” said Dr. Maltzman. “Her background in digital scholarship and technology will prove invaluable as we continue to expand our efforts in these areas.”
Under the new structure, Associate Provost and Chief Academic Technologies Officer PB Garrett will serve as the day-to-day lead and will oversee GW’s eDesign Shop—a team of instructional designers and multimedia and video experts who specialize in online program and course design—while Ms. Henry will provide overall strategic leadership for both online education and the teaching and learning center.
“PB knows many members of the GW faculty and, in partnership with Camille Funk, the head of the eDesign shop, she can ensure that our students have access to an online learning environment that is ‘state of the art,’” Provost Maltzman said.
Paul Schiff Berman, who recently stepped down from his post as vice provost to return full time to the GW Law faculty, had overseen the Office of Online Education and Academic Innovation from 2013-2016. The teaching and learning center previously had been under the purview of Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Dianne Martin. GW currently offers more than 100 online degree and certificate programs, projected to gross almost $70 million in revenue in fiscal year 2016.
“Mr. Berman has done a phenomenal job of creating high quality online courses while also providing distance students with the exceptional academic support opportunities already offered to students on campus,” Ms. Henry said. “With these areas now under the umbrella of the library, we will continue to build on this momentum by collaborating widely to support online teaching and research excellence. Whether in person or online, providing the best education and experience possible for our students is a high priority.
“This deeper collaboration between previously separate areas will enhance the learning environment for our students. The library provides core academic support to the campus, and we look forward to the many possibilities this realignment has to further quality teaching and academic excellence at GW,” she said.